College
First post (note: I do not receive any compensation at all from any companies/services/products/websites...mentioned. Just sharing my experience)
My College Experience : Where, Why, How...etc.
I will tell my story here but if you are only interested in the main information of where I went and how I saved money, I will try and put that info in bold so you can scroll thru and just read those tidbits.
My whole life (I am now 50 years old) I wanted to be a singer/songwriter. Not much happened with that while I was growing up so after high school I went to college for a year. Then I quit and got married. My ex was in military so we moved a few times. I took some classes at the local college but ended up quitting because I couldn't do the Math class. Then about 20+ years later we got divorced. I had no more dreams of becoming a singer, but I was a good songwriter so I started learning all I could about the industry. Took lots of online classes trying to learn how to get my songs placed in tv shows, movies, commercials.. whatever. I spent years doing this and I met a lot of great people and won a songwriting contest, but then I quit. I didn't get any placements, and I wasn't getting much ROI. (return on investment) I love music and it will always be a part of me but I figured out that even if I did become successful, the industry just doesn't pay as much as it used to. I left all these classes, groups, etc. and I did get an email from a member that said "Hey where did you go? You were so good? " So that made me feel good. I said I quit. He said he liked a song of mine he had heard, I told him he could have it with my blessings. He is a very nice guy. I hope it makes some money for him. I have a stack of songs doing nothing, gathering dust and I've given up any hopes of them earning me any income. If you are reading this and want one, let me know what you are looking for. If I have one I'll give it to you. No payment required. If you want a songwriting session or me to review your song and let me give you feedback, let me know. I'll do that for free, for now. Anyway, back to my story.
I quit music and thought when my son is moved out, maybe then I will get a job as a special education teaching assistant at a school. They might make about 20-25 grand a year. I can probably live off of that. And when Social security kicks in I'll get about 1000 a month from that. Well, I had some college so I thought I would start taking classes at the local community college and see what I could do there. I saw an Associates degree in Mortgage Banking. Maybe with that I could get a job at a bank or credit union. Maybe they make more than teaching assistant. So I'll try that, as long as they don't have that math class.
At that time, my daughter was going to college, and hit a snag. She was having so much trouble with the math class. She tried to take it several times, and then tried several times to test out of it.... she was very upset, but I didn't want it to cause her to give up and quit college so I began looking for other degrees, other schools that required a different math class. Maybe there was another math class that would be less of a struggle for her.
I will always thank her for that. This is what changed my path. In this research I found SNHU. They offer a MAT125. I was reading reviews from people who had taken this math class and I thought my daughter and I could pass this one. Out of lots of research, to me SNHU was the best choice. https://www.snhu.edu/ Lots of online degrees and one of the least expensive options. There are lots of videos about SNHU, I found this one to be very interesting. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6b9u7oIs0k So I enrolled. Not long after enrolling in SNHU I joined several Facebook groups for SNHU students. That was VERY helpful. After reading some of the posts, I read one about Sophia. https://www.sophia.org/ Many SNHU students take classes with Sophia that transfer into SNHU. Sophia offers mostly general education courses, that you can take online, for 79$ a month membership. I usually hate monthly memberships but this one rocks! I took 3 courses in one month for 79 dollars. I cancelled the membership before the month was out. Then I waited a few days, maybe a week, then signed into Parchment.com to send the transcript from Sophia to SNHU. I was able to pass the College Algebra with Sophia! YAY! I thought I would try that first, and even if I didn't pass it I could still take the MAT125 with SNHU later. Once I was taking a class through SNHU, a class through a local community college and 3 through Sophia all in the same month. I took 7 classes total through Sophia (2 months) for a total of $158.00 and the 1 class with local community college at $175. Those 8 classes taken that way I feel saved around 7 thousand dollars. SNHU requires me to take 10 classes through them in order to get a bachelors degree through them. I can respect that. Regularly, at least a few times a month, or after every time I would finish a class and have transcript sent to SNHU, I would check the 'program evaluation.' I just want to see how many credits I have left, what classes do I need to take..etc. I know my advisor tells me but I believe in double-checking. (Sophia raised the price to 99$ a month, but still a deal!)
I began with pursuing a Bachelors in Communications with a concentration in PR, then maybe Masters so I could teach Public Speaking classes at the community college level. I found with a couple of the classes I had taken (not at SNHU, or my main local community college, but at different community college) I took some classes where the professor rarely was helpful. I sort of took over the class, emailed all of the students, told them when things were due.. the professor just wasn't involved much at all. I found I loved teaching. Especially with the public speaking class. I would stay up late and watch all of the recorded speeches on youtube, make helpful, thorough, but encouraging critiques. I would totally overstep my bounds and become this self appointed student teacher. I really enjoyed it. And the students gave me great feedback. But looking online, adjunct professors teaching classes in community colleges don't make as much as you would think. Most have full time jobs and only do this on the side or teach several classes at 2 or 3 schools, and it's a lot of work for not as much money as I thought. I read this article https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2020/04/20/new-report-says-many-adjuncts-make-less-3500-course-and-25000-year ""Nearly a third of the 3,000 adjuncts surveyed for the report earn less than $25,000 a year. ""
Well, crud. What now? I want a job I can do in my 50s and 60s, one I can do from home in case we get quarantined again... ugh. Well, I kept on with Communications and just dropped the concentration in PR. During this time I thought I will look up anything I can take from home to help. I took a 3 day class and became a certified life coach. I took a 2 day class and became a certified paraprofessional. Most people said "You don't need that class. You have 25 years experience with special needs kids (my son), you can work as a teacher's assistant in special education." Yes, but a lot of these schools get funding from a source that requires the assistants to have that training, that certification. So I'm a certified life coach, I'm a certified paraprofessional, I'm working towards a bachelors degree, what else can I possibly do? What jobs are going to be available in the future?
Well, teachers. I love teaching, but maybe not a professor. I don't know, let me think about it. So I began researching, watching videos. So I found these 2 videos. Her teaching Journey https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dliCiJiWeIE and her ITeach review video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yg5wvIhBvMo&t=76s The main notes from her videos is that if I wanted to become a teacher (elementary, middle or high school) I'd have to start back all over in college, or get a Bachelors in General Studies and then go into an alternative certification program for teaching credentials. https://www.iteach.net/ and https://www.teachersoftomorrow.org/texas/ are the 2 programs I began looking into. When I asked my SNHU advisor to change from BA in Communications to general studies (with a concentration in comm.) I saw that I could graduate sooner, take more classes faster and cheaper with Sophia, and only end up taking 10-11 classes with SNHU. Which really kept the cost down. I have gotten some pell grants and student loans, and I recently got documents mailed to me about my student loans. Right now both of my student loans together are less than $3,200.00 and I have less than 7 months left to graduate. I will have taken a total of 10 classes with SNHU, I'll have to post what the total cost of that comes out to be when I get that figure. 6 classes left. (2 classes per term) Then will I go into one of the alt. cert. teaching programs? Well, maybe...
See, what I have heard about Sophia is that the only real issue with it is if you want to go into a master's program that looks at the classes in your Bachelor degree and doesn't accept Sophia classes. So, I looked at the Sophia partner list. https://www.sophia.org/transfer-credits/college-and-university-partners/ I visited most of their websites to see who is inexpensive, who has a masters program I might be interested in. That way I know the Sophia classes will be accepted. That's when I learned about WGU. WGU classes can be available as a subscription service too. Around $3,700.00 (?) per 6 months, then take all the classes you can within that 6 month period. Can you really get a masters degree in less than 6 months paying less than 4 grand? Yep. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohHWtCB-SOA&t=1s She is a teacher that got her master's degree through WGU in under 6 months for less than 3 grand. In districts I have been looking at, teachers that have a master's degree get paid 1-2 thousand more a year than teachers who do not.
So I am looking at finishing my Bachelor's in General Studies in 7 months and then perhaps going into a Masters degree with WGU (a partner school with Sophia), then the alternative teaching program with Texas Teachers of Tomorrow, to be a special education teacher. (My son and 2 of my best friend's kids have special needs, so I spent a lot of time in special ed classrooms when they were growing up) Was this my first choice for a career? No, but it's not a bad choice for me. I'm very comfortable with kids, teens, and adults with disabilities. Is there a need for special ed teachers? yes. Does it pay well? From what I can tell starts around 56 thousand per year and goes up from there. I'm getting 24k a year right now. Can I do it from home in case of quarantine again? I'm guessing all of the teachers are doing virtual learning, including special ed teachers. Maybe also I can start life coaching on the side. I really liked learning about that industry. I never thought I would ever go to college again and I never even considered a masters degree and now I'm closing in on a Bachelors and thinking of starting a masters program in 8-9 months. Wow. Anything is possible.
Little more about the costs.
I did one year (in 1989-90) at East Carolina University, classes, dorm room, etc. the whole thing. Not sure how much that cost, parents paid for it.
I did 1 class at a local tech school in N.C. that I paid for in 1990, probably 100 bucks I think.
I took 6 classes at a local community college in Virginia, 1993, maybe $600?
I took some classes in a local community college here which is about 175.00 per class because I live in the county. I have taken a few classes with the community college that is in the next county that is about 135$ per credit hour so it was $405 per class for me because I don't live in that county.
There was a time where a class was full at SNHU and so I took it for 175$ at the local community college.
Sophia is 79$ per month though recently they had a sale for 40$ the first month.
SNHU shows here https://www.snhu.edu/tuition-and-financial-aid/online that it is $320 per credit hour which means $960 per class. So 10 classes should end up being around $9,600.00 which even if it does end up being that is still an incredible deal! But it probably won't be that much because I got pell grants also. I haven't had to buy any books for the classes I have taken with SNHU or Sophia yet. One class with SNHU I had to sign up for Adobe photoshop/graphic design stuff for a while, 17$ a month, not bad. (update: I am in a class now that said I needed 2 books, and it does read a bit like "make sure you buy them through the school bookstore to make sure you get the right books" and can use the voucher if you get one. I just don't. My go to for books is Amazon. I make sure to get the books with the correct ISBN#, and I try to order them from Goodwill stores that sell thru Amazon. I can usually get them super cheap that way. But for the majority of the classes taken at SNHU I haven't had to buy any books. With Sophia, the readings, videos, everything is online.)
Main reason I like SNHU: I have had some small quizzes that usually aren't worth a great deal of points, it's mostly writing a lot of papers, a lot! (one more time) It is a lot of writing. But, I would much rather write a lot of papers than study for hours on end trying to memorize things for test, find out you memorized the wrong thing, or freak out because your don't test well.... I'd much rather spend time on writing a paper or working on a project so I can show my work. Get graded on my efforts and how I can apply myself and do the best job I can on a project. Search and find all the resources available to help me produce a good product. Not be graded on the fact that I randomly remembered in the moment that the answer is C. I'd rather be judged on the good work I can do, on the final product I can present, the results I can achieve, than on the hopes that my memory is working at 100% that day. Sorry. Bit of an issue for me.
The average person graduates with student loans of around $36,000 https://educationdata.org/average-student-loan-debt-by-year
Average cost of college per year ? https://www.collegedata.com/resources/pay-your-way/whats-the-price-tag-for-a-college-education
If you don't know what to do, try getting a BA degree in General Studies at a local college or SNHU https://www.snhu.edu/admission/academic-catalogs/coce-catalog#/programs/4ymsQEIte Why? Because 63-65 of those credits are free electives (meaning can be any classes at all) That's 21 3 credit classes you can take through Sophia. Here is the link that lists the Sophia classes and how they transfer to SNHU. https://snhu.sophia.org/ So you could take 21 classes through SNHU for $960 each, or take 4-5 classes per month in Sophia (I've seen students take 7+ classes per month) and pay 79 bucks a month. Difference of SNHU $20,160 (and over 1.5 years) and 6 months of Sophia at $474.00. If you get a BA degree in general studies and then later decide you want to get another degree, you will already have all of those credits. Or just get a gen. studies degree and go get the masters.
Hope this helps. I'll update as I get closer to graduating. My graphic design professor stated about a project I did could be used in my professional portfolio. He was very impressed. Maybe I should look into graphic design too.
I'm thinking that it's not about having the key to success.
It's not about working on building a great key that will open that door to success.
It's about building a great key that will successfully open as many doors as possible. Because an industry that is thriving today could shut down tomorrow. Take this key that you have worked so hard to make, keep it polished and ready, because you never know when you will need to use it to open another door. (Key meaning resume)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ update~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
My student loans are up to 4,700 now. Still under 5k. I have one month left for these 2 classes, then I'll start my next 2 classes in January- they will end March 5th, and then the following Monday I begin my last 2 classes and they will end April 29th. Then I will graduate with Bachelor's. Will take some time to process. Then hopefully I can apply to WGU and begin the Master's program June 1st. Maybe July 1st depending on process time.
I recently watched some videos on people who have gotten degrees that weren't what they thought, weren't accredited, and they racked up a lot of debt. What a nightmare! Research your school and program before you enroll!
Tampa man 'living nightmare' after enrolling at for-profit school a decade ago https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=StG4sR2E5-Q
Kaplan graduate says degree means absolutely nothing. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQgs4wrAUvU
SNHU: Southern New Hampshire University is a private, nonprofit, accredited institution .....Named 2020 Most Innovative University in the North and one of the nation's "Best Regional Universities" by U.S. News & World Report.... retrieved from https://www.snhu.edu/about-us
WGU: Western Governors University is a private nonprofit accredited university https://www.wgu.edu/about/story.html
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~UPDATE 4/3/2022~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
I finish all classes for my degree this month! And I just checked, my student loans total 9,500.00. Thank you SNHU! I have really liked SNHU, great advisor, project based, no tests. I have really liked the instructors, and again, joining the student facebook groups have been incredibly helpful!
Sophia raised its price to 99$ a month - still a great deal!
I asked Collin College and Dallas (both community colleges) if they accept Sophia credits. Collin does not. A rep from Dallas said they did not, but I think they are wrong because I found a page on their website explaining the alternative credit they accept. https://www.dallascollege.edu/cd/special-programs/pages/alternative-credit.aspx It shows that they accept the College Algebra class from Sophia which is the one I was able to pass.
So if Math trips you up, consider this route to completing your degree. I did it and I'm over 50 years old.